Bring, buy or choose your work smartphone, tablet and laptop?

SMARTPHONES, TABLETS and now phablets, have infiltrated the corporate landscape, with or without the approval and control of IT departments.

Many firms have had their hands forced by this influx to roll out some form of bring your own device (BYOD) policy, allowing staff to access company systems from their own personal mobile devices. Other firms, like Shell, are taking this approach one step further and are expecting staff to provide their own phones or laptops to use for work purposes.

We're running a debate this week on what's the right approach for firms and workers when it comes to mobiles in the office.

Should firms support whatever personal mobile phone, tablet or laptop their staff want to use to access work email or other corporate systems? Is it better to provide staff with a mobile device to use for work, or expect them to buy and support their own laptop, tablet or phone for work purposes?

Is bring your own device the right approach for all companies, or is the newer trend of choose your own device (CYOD), where employees can select from a pre-approved list of devices to use at work, a more sensible approach?

And what new challenges around security and legal do this shift to mobile bring?

Today we've been joined by Brian Long IT chief at defence supplier Pattonair, who thinks IT departments should make themselves ‘mobile enablers’; while Duncan Spooner-Wells, IT director at Haileybury school, outlines the management and cost overheads for managing and securing access for thousands of mobile devices owned by staff and students.

We really want to hear your views on all the above questions, as well your reactions to the debate speakers, so please visit the BYOD debate page to share your views. µ